Hollywood landmark Grauman’s Chinese Theater was the brainchild of famous Indianapolis nativeSid Grauman. Born in Indianapolis in 1879, Grauman was a businessman, an entrepreneur and a genius in marketing even before the term existed. Most renowned as the owner of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, whose sidewalks are decorated by the foot and hand prints of Hollywood’s cinematic finest, he also built two other legendary Los Angeles movie theaters, the Egyptian and the Million Dollar Theater. On the long roster of notable people from Indianapolis, Sid Grauman’s name is one of the most widely recognized.

As a youth, Grauman began his career searching for gold… literally. The great Klondike Gold Rush was on, and he moved to Canada to find his glory. What he found, however, was a muddy nothing, and so he moved on to his true destiny: building movie theaters.

Around the turn of the 20th century, Sid Grauman built theaters in Alaska and then in Northern California. But his theaters in Los Angeles were the ones that brought in the gold and made him a star in his own right.

Million Dollar Theater

Built by Sid Grauman, famous Indianapolis native son, the Million Dollar has a long and prestigious history as the premiere venue for Mexican films and entertainment in the United States.

Opened February of 1918, this movie house is on Broadway in Los Angeles, next to the Bradbury Building. The office building of the Million Dollar Theater was recently converted to be used as residential space, but the Million Dollar Theater has been restored and re-opened, and presents live theater and concerts in Spanish and major Mexican film premieres.

Grauman’s Egyptian Theater

Built in what’s called Egyptian Revival architectural style, the Egyptian Theater opened in 1922. It received an infusion of $12.8 million in 1998 for renovation, adding a screening theater named after Steven Spielberg.

Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, along with Grauman’s other two movie houses in Los Angeles, is a cultural and historical landmark on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, America’s movie capital.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater

Located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Grauman’s Chinese Theater has long remained on the list of ten most-visited landmarks in Southern California.This was Sid Grauman’s charmed third try, and represented his dream theater. The famous Hollywood Walk of Fame lines the forefront of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and contains star memorabilia dating back to the 1920s.

Today, the Chinese Theater is one of the many movie houses operated by Mann Theaters, and still a major venue for Hollywood premieres and other cinema-related events.

Grauman has his own star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. In 1949, one year before he died, his contributions to film exhibition were recognized with an Academy Award. Indiana son Sid Grauman was one of the Academy’s original founders.